House wrap with integral furring strips

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a furring strip system wherein furring strips are pre-attached to at least one side of a water resistive barrier (WRB—sometimes referred to as “Housewrap”) to promote drainage and drying between the exterior siding or cladding and the underlying wall construction. The furring strips themselves may be ventilated vertically through a series of abutting internal cavities extending across its width or vertical ridges. The furring strip system is installed on a structure simultaneously with the WRB, and before the exterior cladding or siding is installed to enhance drainage and drying of that area thus helping to eliminate the problems associated with water accumulation, such as deterioration of the underlying components, microbial growth, mold and related problems to the structure and its inhabitants.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to exterior walls of building structures, primarily residential structures, wherein specific measures have been taken to ensure that the wall area between the exterior siding and the sheathing therebeneath can be dry and free of water buildup.

We are all aware of the damage that water penetration can cause including structural rotting, mildew formation, mold or mold spores may penetrate into the interior of a structure and can cause adverse health consequences for the occupants.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for ensuring that water entrapped between a structure's sheathing and its exterior cladding or siding is eliminated by means of drainage and drying of the area therebetween. This is accomplished through the use of a conventional water resistive barrier (WRB—also sometimes referred to as “Housewrap”) with furring strips attached to at least one side of the WRB. By using a furring strip on each side of the WRB, the distance between the sheathing and the siding or cladding is doubled to approximately 6-8 mm. The furring strips are placed approximately eight inches apart with the passages extending parallel to their vertical orientation, thus promoting draining and drying which helps prevent the accumulation of water between the sheathing and cladding.

DISCUSSION OF KNOWN PRIOR ART

A recent search of the Patent Office files in the appropriate Class and subclasses revealed the following prior art:

-   U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,383—issued to Richard J. Morris et al on Sep. 6,     2005—discloses a vented furring strip that is used to ventilate the     area between the sheathing of a residence and the exterior siding or     cladding and eliminate any moisture or water from therebetween. The     elongate furring strips are installed as separate pieces on the     first layer of a wall and covered with an exterior siding. The     furring strips space the siding apart from the sheathing, forming a     plurality of enclosed cavities or air spaces. The cavities are in     fluid communication with each other through air passages in the     furring strips that extend transversely to a longitudinal axis of     the furring strip, i.e. these passages through the furring strips     are horizontally disposed and serve to connect the cavities that are     formed between adjacent furring strips thus providing ventilation of     the entire area. By allowing air to enter the cavities between     adjacent furring strips, there is a total or complete ventilation of     the area between the sheathing and the exterior siding, thus the     problems associated with water and moisture such mildew, rotting,     mold and mold spores becomes moot. -   U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,193—issued to Richard J. Morris on Mar. 19,     2002—discloses a roof batten for use in spacing tiles or similar     exterior roofing members from a roof overlayment. This “batten” is     structurally the same as the “furring strips” referred to in Morris,     '383 immediately above. -   U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,668—issued to Richard J. Morris on Jul. 31,     2001—discloses a roof vent formed by utilizing a pair of spaced     ventilation devices 50 that are advantageously disposed between     installed sheets 20 and ridge cap 22 to insure that air exchange     proximate peak 14 between the interior and exterior of roof will     occur within vent 50.

Although these three references discloses ventilated furring strips, batten strips, and ridge vent spacer strips they each rely on cavities that are within the strips that are transverse to the longitudinal axis of the various strips. Further, these three patents are all directed to the use of furring strips installed individually in the field whereas the subject matter of the instant invention provides a series of furring strips that are pre-attached to at least one side of conventional water resistive barrier (WRB) in the factory and automatically spaced and installed when the WRB is installed in the field. Additionally, the instant invention provides air passages or ridges that extend along the longitudinal axis, vertically disposed, which helps to promote drainage and drying longitudinally and prevents water from migrating laterally between the furring strips.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a water resistive barrier (WRB) with furring strips for draining and drying the area between the exterior sheathing and the exterior cladding or siding.

Another object of the invention is to provide a WRB with furring strips that have been previously attached to the WRB, which facilitates placement and spacing of the furring strips at the same time the WRB is installed.

A further object of the invention is to attach the furring strips to any type of WRB, such as commercially available housewraps, regardless of the material composition of the WRB or furring strip.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a house wrap that includes furring strips that will help ensure that water will not accumulate between the structure's sheathing and the WRB or the WRB and the exterior cladding.

A further object of the invention is to provide vertical passageways or ridges to help promote drainage and drying longitudinally in the wall assembly.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent hereinafter. The instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters designate the corresponding parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a house wherein the furring strips have been attached to the water resistive barrier (WRB) prior to installation of the WRB on the house.

FIG. 2 is a view of a roll of WRB with the furring strips attached to both sides thereof prior to installation on the building.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of FIG. 2 illustrating the furring strips and their placement on the inner and outer surfaces of the WRB material.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the plane 44 of FIG. 1 illustrating the passages within a pair of furring strips on opposite sides of the WRB.

FIG. 5 is a detail illustration of the area enclosed by the oval in FIG. 4, illustrating the vertical passage in the furring strips.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the plane 6-6 of FIG. 4, illustrating the relationship of the furring strips relative to the WRB and the exterior siding.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a house with an attached garage 51. As illustrated, house 50 is wrapped with a water resistive barrier 60, which will be referred to as WRB hereinafter, that includes a plurality of furring strips 61 attached to both sides of WRB 60. However, only the outer side is shown in this view with the furring strips 61 aligned as successive rows of WRB 60 are applied to the house 50. As noted in FIG. 1, the lowermost horizontal row of WRB 60 begins at the lowermost right-hand side of house 50 with furring strip 61 aligned with the right end of the exterior sheathing and flap portion 60RF extending around the house on the right side thereof. Additionally, the lower end 61B of furring strips 61 are aligned with the bottom of the exterior sheathing, not shown. The next horizontal row of WRB 60 is installed by overlapping the bottom of the roll 60BF over the top flap 60TF of the roll and unwrapping the WRB from the roll 60, thus any water from the upper row of WRB 60 is discharged onto the top flap 60TF of the previous roll for easy run-off down the building side.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a roll of WRB 60 with furring strips 61 attached to both sides thereof. As shown, roll 60 is partially unwrapped showing a right flap portion 60RF at the rightmost end of roll 60, the opposite end is provided with a left flap portion 60LF, not shown. Furring strips 61 are positioned on both sides of the WRB with the sides offset vertically from each other, leaving a top flap portion 60TF and a bottom flap portion 60BF on the respective sides thereof. This feature facilitates proper overlapping of rolls 61 as shown in FIG. 1. Although emphasis has been placed on the use of the WRB in “roll form”, it has been found to be equally useful when presented in “folded sheet form”.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of FIG. 2. This sectional view illustrates the relationship between the furring strips 61W and 61N. As shown, the larger strip 61W is approximately 1 and ¾ inches wide while the other, narrower strip 61N is approximately 1¼ inch in width. The narrower strip 61N is placed against the sheathing of the home with the wider strip 61W in abutting relation to the siding. Narrow strip 61N is approximately 1¼ inch in width, centered on the wider strip 61W with approximately ¼ overlap on each side thereof. As shown, WRB 60 is sandwiched between the two furring strips 61W and 61N. The WRB 61 is installed with the narrower furring strip 61N against the sheathing. The reason for installing the furring strips in this manner is to minimize surface contact and thereby reduce the potential for water retention against the underlying structure.

Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown the wider furring strip 61W on one side of WRB 60 with narrower furring strip 61N centrally located on the opposite side of WRB 60. As shown, furring strips 61 include an upper wall and a lower wall with partitioning elements 61P interconnecting upper and lower walls, 61UW and 61LW, forming passageways 61P to promote drainage and drying therethrough. The illustrated furring strip 61 is but one example of many types that could be utilized. Additional types of furring strips include but are not limited to extruded expanded polystyrene, molded expanded polystyrene, polyurethane or polyethylene closed cell foam, or other non-absorptive spacer materials. The WRB sheets include but are not limited to polymeric, paper and felt type products. The type of WRB 60 may be changed as well as the manner of attaching the furring strips 61 to the WRB. As an alternative to furring strips with passageways, the furring strips may have exterior grooves therein that serve as passageways for air, moisture and water. Although reference is made to the passage of air, moisture and water through passageways, 61P, this is not the primary path for drainage and drying. The primary area for drainage and drying is the space or areas between adjacent furring strips 61, the underlying components and exterior cladding.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a vertical sectional view taken along the plane 4-4 of FIG. 1. This is a sectional view through the wall of the garage illustrating the relationship of the sheetrock 75, insulation 73 WRB 60, sheathing 70, and siding 80. Positioned at the bottom of the air ventilation passageway is a screening 65 that serves to limit the entrance of common insects into vertical passageways.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an enlarged view of the area within the oval marked FIG. 5. As shown, narrower furring strip 61N is placed against sheathing 70 with wider strip 61W immediately beneath siding 80.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a sectional view taken along the plane 6-6 of FIG. 4, illustrating an enlarged showing of the structure found in FIG. 4. It is to be kept in mind that not only is there drainage and drying through passageways 61P of furring strips 61W and 61N (found in FIG. 3), there is more substantial areas for drainage and drying between adjacent furring strips 61W and 61N thus ensuring that water between WRB 60 and sheathing 70 and between WRB 60 and siding 80, will be contained and eliminated due to drainage and drying therebetween.

While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than words of limitation and that changes may be made within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the full scope or spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims, and not by the foregoing specification. 

1: An improved water resistive barrier (WRB) for use in frame construction wherein said WRB includes means for ensuring drainage and drying of unwanted water between the underlying structure and exterior siding of a building; said WRB comprising: flexible water resistive barrier sheet material; said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material having a plurality of previously attached spaced furring strips on at least one side thereof; said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material providing drainage and drying in the gap formed between the exterior facing surface of said underlying structure and said inward facing surface of said siding when said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material and said plurality of furring strips thereon is installed therebetween. 2: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said WRB and attached furring strips are presented in continuous roll form. 3: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said furring strips are provided on both sides of said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material. 4: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 2 wherein said furring strips are provided on both sides of said continuous roll. 5: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said furring strips include ventilation means formed by longitudinal passageways within the strip and extending along the length thereof. 6: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 5 wherein said ventilation means are formed as grooves in said furring strips. 7: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 6 wherein said furring strips abutting said sheathing of said house are narrower than the furring strips on the opposite side. 8: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 7 wherein said furring strips are disposed in opposition to each other with their vertical centerlines directly opposite each other. 9: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 3 wherein said furring strips are attached by ultrasonic welding. 10: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 3 wherein said furring strips are adhesively attached to said WRB. 11: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 3 wherein said furring strips are mechanically to attached to said WRB. 12: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 4 wherein said furring strips are attached by ultrasonic welding. 13: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 4 wherein said furring strips are adhesively attached to said WRB. 14: An improved WRB for use in flame construction as defined in claim 4 wherein said furring strips are mechanically attached to said WRB. 15: An improved WRB for use in frame construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said plurality of spaced furring strips are free of ventilating passageways. 16: An improved water resistive barrier (WRB) for use in frame construction wherein said WRB includes means for ensuring drainage and drying of unwanted water between the underlying structure and exterior siding of a building; said WRB comprising: flexible water resistive barrier sheet material; said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material having a plurality of previously attached spaced furring strips on at least one side thereof; said flexible water resistive sheet material having a first flap portion at the beginning of said sheet with additional flap portions located oppositely at the top and bottom portions of said WRB sheet; said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material providing drainage and drying in the gap formed between the exterior facing surface of said underlying structure and said inward facing surface of said siding when said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material and said plurality of furring strips thereon is installed therebetween. 17: A method of draining and drying the underlying structure between the sheathing and exterior siding of a frame construction building said method comprising the following steps: a. providing a roll of flexible water resistive barrier sheet material with furring strips attached to both sides thereof with a flap portion on opposite sides of said water resistive barrier sheet material due to staggered placement of said furring strips; b. applying a first row of said roll of flexible water resistive barrier sheet material with attached furring strips by starting at a corner of said building with the bottom of said furring strips aligned with the frame structure of said building leaving a top flap portion of said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material exposed; c. after installing said first row of flexible water resistive barrier sheet material, begin installing a second row of said roll of flexible water resistive barrier sheet material by overlapping said top flap portion in step (b); d. after installing said roll of flexible water resistive barrier sheet material, repeat the procedure followed in step(c) followed by successive repeats until one face of said building is completed followed by successive repeats of steps (a) through (d) on each of the remaining sides of the building until completed. 18: An improved water resistive barrier for use in frame construction wherein said WRB includes means for ensuring drainage and drying of unwanted water between the underlying structure and exterior siding of said building; said WRB comprising: a roll of flexible water resistive barrier sheet material having a first and second side and a top and bottom portion; said roll of flexible water resistive sheet material having a plurality of spaced furring strips attached to opposite sides of said flexible water resistive sheet material; said furring strips on said first side of said water resistive barrier sheet material having a first end aligned with said bottom of said water resistive barrier sheet material and a second opposite end of said furring strip terminating short of said top of said water resistive barrier sheet material leaving a top flap portion unsupported by said furring strip; and said furring strips on said second side of said water resistive barrier sheet material having a first aligned with said top of said water resistive barrier sheet material and terminating short of said bottom of said water resistive barrier sheet material leaving a bottom flap portion unsupported by said second furring strip; said first and second furring strips arranged in overlapping, staggered fashion and each successive row allows said offset furring strips to become aligned and continuous. 19: An improved water resistive barrier for use in frame construction wherein said WRB includes means for ensuring drainage and drying of unwanted water between the underlying structure and exterior siding of said building; said WRB comprising: a flexible water resistive barrier sheet material having a first and second side and a top and bottom portion; said flexible water resistive sheet material having a plurality of spaced furring strips attached to opposite sides of said flexible water resistive sheet material; said furring strips on said first side of said water resistive barrier sheet material having a first end aligned with said bottom of said water resistive barrier sheet material and a second opposite end of said furring strip terminating short of said top of said water resistive barrier sheet material leaving a top flap portion unsupported by said furring strip; and said furring strips on said second side of said water resistive barrier sheet material having a first end aligned with said top of said water resistive barrier sheet material and terminating short of said bottom of said water resistive barrier sheet material leaving a bottom flap portion unsupported by said second furring strip; said first and second furring strips arranged in overlapping, staggered fashion and each row allows said offset furring strips to become aligned and continuous. 20: An improved WRB for use in frame construction wherein said WRB includes means for ensuring drainage and drying of unwanted water between the underlying structure and exterior siding of a building; said WRB comprising: flexible water resistive barrier sheet material; said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material having a plurality of previously attached spaced furring strips on at least one side thereof; said flexible resistive barrier sheet material providing drainage and drying in the gap formed between the exterior facing surface of said underlying structure and said inward facing surface of said siding when said flexible water resistive barrier sheet material and said plurality of furring strips there on is installed therebetween; and said furring strips including ventilation means formed within the strips and continuing along the length thereof. 